Sivasooriyakumar
Sanaraj, 15 years old, has been missing since 13 June,
after he failed to arrive at school in Vavuniya, northern Sri Lanka. His
family fears that he has been abducted, and he may be at risk of torture or extrajudicial
execution. Despite complaints lodged with the local police by his family, the
police have failed to investigate.
Sivasooriyakumar
Sanaraj left his
home in Ukkulankulam, near Vavuniya, to go to school as usual on the morning of
13 June, but never came back. When he did not return home that evening, his
aunt went to look for him at his school, and was told that he had not arrived that day. Another
of his aunts went
to the Vavuniya police to report him missing. However, the police did not take
the case seriously; they refused to register the case and told her that he
would eventually turn up. The following morning, his aunt returned to the police
to lodge a complaint, at which point they assured her that they would visit the school to obtain a
statement. However, they did not do so.
On 28 June at about midnight, a friend of the family
who had been waiting at a bus stand in Vavuniya noticed an auto-rickshaw pass
by carrying three men and a young boy with his hands bound behind his back. He
called Sivasooriyakumar
Sanaraj’s father who came to meet him, and they waited for the
rickshaw to return. A little later, the same rickshaw returned, but was only
carrying one of the men. It stopped, dropped off the man and drove away. Sivasooriyakumar Sanaraj’s father and his
friend immediately caught hold of the man and took him to the Vavuniya police.
When he was caught, the man boasted of having connections to the Criminal
Investigation Division (CID) and senior police officers. The Vavuniya police
turned them away saying it was too late at night to deal with the matter. Therefore,
they questioned the man themselves, asking him to describe the boy in the
rickshaw. The man described the boy as having a red scar on his ear and lip,
just like Sivasooriyakumar
Sanaraj.
Despite having identified the man as a suspected
abductor, the Vavuniya police did not call him in for questioning and have
failed to conduct any investigation to date. When the family asked the police
why they were not conducting an investigation, they said that they were
awaiting the return of their Senior Inspector for further instructions. The
family suspects that Sivasooriyakumar
Sanaraj may have been abducted by people with connections to
political figures and senior law enforcement officials.
Please write immediately in English or your own language:
n
Calling on the Sri Lankan law enforcement
authorities, who are under the direct supervision of the Defence Secretary, to
immediately launch an urgent, thorough and transparent investigation into the alleged
abduction of Sivasooriyakumar Sanaraj,
and keep his family informed of all efforts to determine his whereabouts.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 15
AUGUST 2013 TO:
Inspector General of Police
N
K Illangakoon
New
Secretariat, Colombo
1
Sri Lanka
Fax:
+94 11 244 0440 (keep trying)
Email:
igp@police.lk
Salutation: Dear Inspector General
Defence Secretary
Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa
Ministry
of Defence and Urban
Development
15/5,
Baladaksha Mawatha,
Colombo 03, Sri Lanka
Fax:
+94 11 254 1529 (keep trying)
Email:
secdef@sltnet.lk
Salutation: Dear Defence Secretary
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
Presidential
Secretariat
Colombo 1 Sri Lanka
Colombo 1 Sri Lanka
Fax:
+ 94 11 244 6657 (keep trying)
Email:
prsec@presidentsoffice.lk / lalith@icta.lk
Salutation: Your Excellency
Also
send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please
insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Please
check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.